May 28, 2011 - Honolulu Reboot

Ricki Lee and Tony have moved to a new home... Hawaii.

In February, I spent four days in Honolulu to prepare for and compete in the Great Aloha Run, a 8-mile charity run held every Presidents' Day on the streets of Honolulu to raise money for several local nonprofit groups on the island of Oahu. I fell in love with Hawaii while there, and it persuaded me to reboot Ricki Lee and Tony by relocating them there. All new comics posted will reflect the aloha, so to speak. Here's the storyline.

Tony was unexpectedly traded down to a Triple A-class minor league hockey team in Hawaii, the Honolulu Devil Dogs. To keep the family together, he and Ricki made the tough decision to leave California and move to Honolulu within the two-week notice Tony was given to report there. Although she is already a "Hawaiian by heart," the sudden move devastates Ricki as she leaves behind lifelong friends and close family on the mainland to join her husband halfway across the Pacific. She sobs uncontrollably on the flight to Honolulu.

They temporarily move in with Ricki's cousin Lee at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where Lee is an assistant coach for the women's basketball team and a fitness instructor. As they settle in, Ricki and Tony find and buy a home near the university large enough for all of them and quickly learn to ride the wave of aloha in their new home state.

Among the changes to the characters:

Ricki Lee Smith returns to full-time teaching as an English instructor at Calvary High School, home of the Ali'is. CHS is a small private Christian school that is so small its basketball team is co-ed. She's learned to speak Hawaii Pidgin fluently, and she considers it a true language; doing so has earned her the trust of the students and their parents. Ricki amazes the locals, and even herself, with her ability to go "rapid fire" from one language to another (English, Spanish, Japanese and Pidgin) instantaneously when addressing a multi-lingual crowd.

Tony Smith is now a defenseman for the Honolulu Devil Dogs, a struggling Triple-A minor league hockey team affiliated with the big-league Anaheim Ducks. The running gag of the Devil Dogs is "Ho, those buggahs haven't had a winning season in years!" and Tony responds "So I've heard."

A few new characters are added for the move to Hawaii:

Lisa "Lee" Rogers: Ricki's biracial cousin, the daughter of a white father and black mother (Ricki's Uncle Pete and Auntie Della). The two grew up together in as close as sisters and call each other "Cuz". Having already lived in Hawaii for three years, Lee becomes like a guardian angel to her cousin's family in helping them adjust to and thrive in the Hawaiian culture. Raised in a Lutheran church, Lee is strong and mature in her faith in Christ and it shows in her daily life. She is also very proud of her dual ethnic heritage, which was instilled in her by her parents. Single and not dating, Lee adopted a disadvantaged child she originally planned to foster only for a few years. An accomplished athlete just like her cousin Ricki, her Achilles' heel is golf; she plays it as physically aggressive as basketball, resulting in deep divots, three-digit handicaps, explosive tempers and embarrassing her mother when they play together.

Keisha Kealoha Rogers, Lee's six-year-old adopted daughter. Originally born as Keisha Souljah Harland to mother Rhonda Harland and her boyfriend Brett, she was taken away from her drug-addicted parents by the state of Hawaii for her own protection. Lee volunteered to foster-parent her through her church's child outreach program, but they bonded so well that Lee decided to adopt her outright to give her a safe, loving Christian home. Lee loves to call her Kealoha (sweetheart) and changed her name upon adoption to give her a fresh start. Keisha's vocabulary is peppered with Hawaiian words like huhu (angry), kokua (care) and lolo (fool).

Peter Paul (Pete) and Della Rogers, Lee's parents, who live in rural Olivebridge, New York. Pete is white and Della is black. They met in church and caused quite a stir with their courtship and eventual marriage. He is a store manager, she is a teacher. Because of the prejudice Lee encountered in grade school over being biracial, they consciously decided not to have more children, but Lee has never held it against them because she grew up in close proximity to cousin Ricki Lee and her family. Keisha loves to call Della Tutu (grandmother in Hawaiian) because it's the first time she ever had a grandma, and one that looks like her, too.

Moses "Moe" Yamashita, owner of Da Drive Inn, a Hawaiian "plate lunch" restaurant that is the favorite hangout of the Smith-Rogers clan. Hawaii Pidgin is his native tongue, followed by Japanese and proper English. In reference to Pidgin, Moe likes to say "Peopo talk about comfort food, well, I have comfort language!" A trusted friend of the family.